Last Week In Review

Last week I started posting about fun events happening in NYC. I managed to get to a few of them, and here are my thoughts.

On Tuesday, June 8th, I was invited to a book launch party for Alix Strauss's book, Based Upon Availability, held at the Four Seasons Restaurant on 52nd St. I met some interesting people, including the author who is my neighbor across the street. Alix's mother was there, and we chatted about Broadway, as she is a big fan.

I met Val, an editor at Crain's New York, a business paper here in the city. She is an urban gardner, and I was fascinated by how many different vegetables she manages to grow (tomatoes, eggplant, even lettuce) on her city terrace. I met a few other authors there as well, including Shari Goldhagen, who wrote Family and Other Accidents and Jennifer Belle, author of Seven Year Bitch.

The hors d'ouerves were delicious, and the cocktails, furnished by Crystal Head Vodka, were delightful. Two original concoctions, The Morgan Martini and The Unlimited Lou, based on two characters from the book, were tasty.

The gift bags were fun, featuring something that represents each main character in the novel. It was a clever idea. Thanks to Alix for the invite, and my review of Based Upon Availability will be posted soon.

On Wednesday, June 9th, I saw The Daily Show's Samantha Bee talking about her book, I Know I Am, But What Are You? at Bryant Park's Word for Word Series (pictured above signing books). Sam is very pretty, and I didn't realize that she is pregnant with her third child. Her book is a memoir of sorts, and she talked about how as a young girl, she put herself in dangerous positions with men. More than once, she accompanied a man back to his apartment when she was thirteen. Yikes!

She talked a bit about her work on The Daily Show, and told one howlingly funny story about a man she interviewed who was, shall we say, very well endowed, and how they fought with the network to show what made this man such an interesting interview.

Good Morning America held it's Friday concert at Central Park with Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones (pictured above right) singing songs from their new CDs. Both ladies were in fine voice, and it was in striking contrast to the last GMA concert I attended- the Whitney Houston fiasco. I really like Sarah's new song, Loving You Is Easy, from her first CD in seven years. The ladies each sang three songs, and it was a great start to the day.

Also on Friday, the Broadway show Hair celebrated its 500th show by giving away 500 free tickets for that evening's performance. I'd never seen it before and it was fantastic. The songs were wonderful, the energy was amazing, and Diana DeGarmo (American Idol) has a powerful, amazing voice. The actors really got into their parts, and Josh Lamon was hilarious in his dual roles as Dad and Margaret Mead, as well as being part of the Tribe.

I feared that the show, set in 1967 and filled with hippies, would be anachronistic, but it is anything but. It is vital, and happy and just a great show. It closes June 27, so hurry and see it; you won't regret it. Oh yeah, Paula Abdul was there that night, dancing on stage at the end with the cast and audience members during the curtain call.

On Saturday, June 12th, my husband and I went to see the new Joan Rivers documentary, A Piece of Work, which is incredible. It gives you a first hand look at what it takes to make in show business. The opening scene of Joan's naked face being made up is a brilliant start to a movie that strips away all of the artifice to show how hard show business is.

Joan is very honest, and love or hate her, she is a fascinating woman. She works very hard, and she seems like such a lonely woman, as I'm sure many women here age (77) are. She has lost her husband and many of her friends have passed away. When she said that no one has ever told her that she was beautiful, it struck me: that is why she has so much plastic surgery. If you don't think it is difficult to be a woman in comedy, you will after you see this movie.

A Piece of Work is so good- go see it if you are lucky enough to have it at your local theater.